Baptism of Fire
by Beccatdemon13
Summary: Scream, Aim, Fire prequel: There is a conflict between the better and worst facets of our very nature. The outcome of which shall change our world so greatly there will be no going back. Alternate synopsis inside. R&R
1. How Things Were

's messing up my formatting *scowl*

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><p><strong>Baptism of Fire<strong>

By: Beccatdemon13

©2011

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anyone except for Aiden and Hailey Winchester as well as anyone you don't immediately recognize. Please don't sue. You'd only be getting a hell of a lot of textbooks. And I mean a _**lot**_ of textbooks. It's insane how many textbooks a history major gets. Like nine or ten per class. Most of which are hundreds of pages. I mean I can go on and on and on about how many books I…oh, right, the story! On we go…

**Synopsis:** There are some things in this world so frightening that we pretend they don't exist. The stuff of nightmares. We tell ourselves they don't exist. But, the truth is they're out there. And closer than we fear.

**Author's Note: **Meet the prequel to Scream, Aim, Fire. What can I say my muse likes Hailey, and Aiden, and the sibling dynamic? Then I started thinking about their childhood and adding more John into things. I don't know how long this will be, but obviously cannon is disregarded (for the most part). Also, you don't really need to read **Scream, Aim, Fire** to understand this story.

**Chapter One: How Things Were**

Families were a strange thing each one was different and complex in it's own way. People were normally bound by their family's history and loyalty. The Campbell family was no exception. They were a close tightknit clan that knew each member inside and out. That kind of familiarity…trust was necessary in their family business.

If only it was something simple, like owning a restaurant, or a small Mom & Pop type shop. No, the specialty of the Campbell family was hunting. It wasn't hunting _Bambi_ or any other woodland creature. Hunting was a phrase that the Campbell family, among others used when they were talking about the act of killing, tracking, and neutralizing Supernatural beings.

The Campbell family was very well one of the most well known hunting families that the United States had to offer. They hunted the supernatural, the stuff the very fabric of people's nightmares were made of, for generations. It was something that the entire family was trained to do, and they did it well.

Samuel Campbell was one of the leading members of the family. Since his own father, Edward had passed away; he was the eldest, which meant he was the one who called the shots. He had set up his primary base of operations in the small town of Lawrence, Kansas. It was almost right smack in the middle of the United States, making it easy to travel anywhere they were needed. The Campbell's that had preceded Samuel had been a nomadic bunch, more likely to be on the move than in a primary residence. However, his wife, Deanna had been adamant about having a home. When his daughters, Beatrix, Theresa, and Mary had been born, he knew that he had made the right decision.

His daughters were trained just like he and his own brothers and sisters had been. Deanna Campbell, nee Whitman, another hunting family had joined forces with her husband teaching their daughters the necessary tools of the trade That included knowledge of Latin, for exorcisms, hand to hand combat, to protect oneself, and other physical training because one needed to be physically fit to do this job. Their oldest daughters, Beatrix and Theresa took to the craft easily, enjoying their first few hunts. The youngest, Mary was different, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Unlike her older sisters and all of the relatives that had proceeded her, it was obvious that little Mary Campbell yearned for something more than hunting things that went bump in the night. She was quick study with everything a hunter should know, taking to Latin a lot easier than Beatrix or Theresa had. Mary's mind was quick, which was a very good thing, but she was always thinking, analyzing, wanting something more than what she had. She was exactly like her Father in that regard. When she was young it brought them closer, once she hit adolescence it was one of the things that drove them apart.

Mary thought she'd be trapped in the family business, at least until she met John Winchester. She was eighteen years old, fresh out of high school. John was on leave, having joined the marines a few months shy of his own graduation. They had clicked right away and the romance didn't fizzle when John left to go fight in Vietnam. When John had been honorably discharged, Mary had been home waiting. It had been almost a year since they had seen one another last, but it was like a day hadn't gone by. By the middle of 1973 they were engaged, set to be married.

Their engagement hit a rocky point when Deanna and Samuel Campbell were murdered by a demon. A demon that had possessed John, who broke the latter's neck in order for Mary to make a deal. Deals with demon's was never a good idea, but Mary was desperate. Her parents were dead, her sister's had been gone for a few years now, having left Kansas and started their own families. Although, both Theresa and Beatrix were still active in hunting. Wedding arrangements stopped so that the three sisters could grieve and plan for the funerals. The entire Campbell clan had made the trip to Lawrence and while it was a somber affair, it had been nice for the whole family to be in one place. It went without saying that Mary's family was a large one, easily hitting fifty members, maybe more.

By the end of the year, Mary and John were married; they still called Lawrence home. They bought a medium sized house, one that would easily fit any and all children the young couple planned to have. A few years later, Mary became pregnant with her first child, a boy. Dean Michael Winchester was born January 24, 1979. It had been an easy decision for both of them to name the child after his grandmother.

In 1983, Mary once again gave birth to a little boy. Samuel Scott Winchester was born May 2, 1983. Just like his older brother, Sam was named after Mary's father. In 1986, the Winchesters welcomed another son: Aiden Riley Winchester. And last but not least was Hailey Jade Winchester, born December 21, 1989.

Mary had the little family she always wanted. With the birth of Dean, Mary had left the hunting world behind for good. She wanted safe, if not for herself than for her budding family. Especially for her children, she refused to allow them to lose any of the innocence they had. Dean, Sam, and Aiden were the best sons she could ever hope to have. The three got along well, and Dean was the perfect big brother. He taught them how to play tee-ball and they walked together to and from the local elementary school.

When Hailey was born, not much changed. The Winchester house became slightly more noisy, although, Hailey was a quiet baby. Despite only being a few weeks old, she seemed to be assessing the world around her with calculating eyes. Sometimes Mary caught her just staring at her or her brothers, as if trying to figure them out, down to the smallest detail.

The day of January 13, 1990 started off as any other day. John left to go work in the mechanic shop he shared with his best friend, Mike. While Mary got her three boys ready for school. She made sure they were dressed, had a decent breakfast, and that they had their lunches and their book bags were packed.

"Come on, boys!" Mary called.

"Coming!" Dean called.

Mary knelt down to help Aiden tie his shoes. She then grabbed Hailey out of her playpen, cradling the young girl as she followed her sons out the front door.

"Remember that you have baseball after school today, Dean," Mary reminded. "You have soccer, Sam."

"Yes, mom," The two said, stopping in their hurried movements to kiss their mother on the cheek.

"And Aiden you have a play date," Mary smiled. "So Timmy's mom will pick you both up after school. Remember to do your homework before you start playing."

"Okay, mommy," Aiden said.

Mary walked them to the gate then stood there, watching as the three walked down the street talking and laughing. Dean was in the fourth grade, while Sam was in first, and Aiden was in an accelerated Pre-K program. Most of the time, Mary would swing around the elementary school around 11 to pick her children up and let them have a nice lunch at home, since that was normally the end of Aiden's school day. But, on days where Aiden had a play date, she let Sam and Dean stay at the school and eat with their friends.

Once her children had turned down the next block, Mary walked herself and Hailey back inside. Just as she shut the door, the phone began to ring. She placed Hailey back in her playpen as she ran to get the phone.

"Hello," She said in the receiver, expecting the traditional call from John, saying that he just saw the boys walk by the garage and that they had gotten to school in time. As the three had been known to dawdle or get distracted.

"Mary."

"Trix?" Mary gasped.

"Hi, little sister," Beatrix greeted with a chuckle. "You sound surprised."

"We haven't spoken in months," Mary pointed out, her eyes taking in her surroundings. As if she expected someone to just pop out of nowhere. "I think the last time we talked you called me a naïve little brat."

"Just calling it like I see it," Beatrix responded.

"There a point to this conversation?" Mary asked tightly. She'd heard quite enough lectures about how one never stopped being a hunter. Ever.

"What've you been doing with yourself?" Beatrix asked.

"Raising four children," Mary grinned. "It's tiring but I love them all to death."

"Dean's ten years old now, right?"

"Yeah."

"Woo, time certainly does fly," Beatrix laughed.

"Yeah," Mary replied. "We're good, Trixie."

"Just because you're living in normal-land that doesn't mean you're not paying attention, right?" Beatrix asked.

"Trix…"

"Mary, this isn't shit you fuck around with," Beatrix growled. "I don't think ghosts and demons are just going to stop because you pretend they don't exist."

"I'm paying attention," Mary huffed.

"Something doesn't feel right," Beatrix whispered.

"What's new in the hunting world?" Mary asked, curiously.

"Tim Harvelle is dead," Beatrix announced. "Our numbers are shrinking, Mar, something's coming. Something bad."

"How's Riley doing?" Mary whispered, her eyes beginning to fill with tears. "Are Ellen and Jo okay?"

"The family's dealing," Beatrix said. "William and Ellen got married a while back. Their daughter, Jo is two years younger than Sam."

"I've seen pictures," Mary smiled. "She's gorgeous."

"And a pro," Beatrix grinned. "You should see what that little girl can do with a knife."

"She's four," Mary gasped.

"She might be four but she's smart," Beatrix shrugged. "They don't leave her alone with weapons of course. But, she throws them at a dartboard. Bulls-eyes every time."

"I don't even know what to say," Mary confessed.

"Just promise me you'll be careful," Beatrix suggested. "And call Tess sometime, huh?"

"I will," Mary whispered.

"And visit the roadhouse sometime," Beatrix ordered. "Ellen misses her best friend."

The call disconnected shortly thereafter leaving a bitter taste in Mary's mouth. Leaving the life she had been born into behind hadn't been easy. She missed her sister's and nieces and nephews. She also missed her best friends."

Even though she was now a Winchester, she remembered everything she had been taught. The Campbell family wasn't the only hunting family out there. There was the Harvelle and the Whitman families. They had almost as many members as the Campbell's had, and were just as good. Ellen Harvelle was one of Mary's best friends. They had both been through a lot together. They had been to each other's weddings, had been there for the birth of their child, or children in Mary's case. But, their once tight relationship had become fractured when Mary left the hunting world behind for good.

Mary let out a small sigh as her mind wandered to her sisters and their own families. Sure, new generation had met one another but the Campbell-Winchester brood weren't the type to meet often. Certain holidays were alternated between both sides of the family but there was still space between the three Campbell sister's. After Tess had nearly outted Mary's secret the space had turned icy. Now they often went to Hilary, John's older sisters for all the holidays.

Still even though the three sisters were angry with one another, they would never stop caring. Mary worried about both Trixie and Tess, because the two still hunted. And like all Hunters they had gotten hurt. Often enough that some of Mary's blonde hair had begun to gray. Mary hated having the house mostly to herself. With John at work, her boys at school, and Hailey sleeping in her play-pen, Mary's mind wandered a lot more than she would've liked. The monotonous chores of laundry, cooking, and cleaning barely distracted her from her thoughts.

She had just finished straightening up when a jeep pulled up to the front of the house. Sam and Dean leapt out of the car and raced up the stairs, barely stopping to thank Ms. Johnson for the ride home.

"Hi, Mom!" Sam and Dean chorused as they ran into the room.

"Hey, boys," Mary laughed. "How was practice?"

"It was good, Mom," Dean said. "Coach said that my pitching's improved. I'm starting at the next game!"

"That's great, Dean-o," Mary praised.

"And, Sammy got bumped to forward," Dean announced, grinning at Mary.

"Well, look at my two all-stars," Mary smiled. "How about ice cream later to celebrate?"

"Score!" Dean whooped, high fiving his little brother.

"Go on and do you homework boys," Mary prodded. "Milk and cookies are waiting on the kitchen table."

Both boys smiled widely taking the time to greet Mary properly with a kiss on the cheek before walking into the kitchen. Two hours later Mary left tomato sauce on the stove to simmer as she gathered her bag and car keys.

"Dean, can you watch the tomato sauce?" Mary requested. "And watch your sister for me, okay? I gotta pick up Aiden from the Braun's."

"Okay, Mom," Dean agreed.

"Thank you, sweetheart," Mary called on her way outside.

Because the garage was so close to the Winchester's home, John frequently chose to walk to work, that way Mary would have the car if she had to run any errands. At one time, Mary had been irritated that John had chosen to get a 1967 Chevy Impala instead of the nice van she had her eye on, but now she loved the car almost as much as John and the boys did.

By the time Mary was on the way home with Aiden in tow, John had beat her home. She walked into the house to find the table set, and plates already laid out. She walked over to her husband and kissed him firmly on the lips before casting her children a stern look when they made disgusted noises as the display. Mary scooped up Hailey and brought the play-pen into the kitchen so that the entire family would be together.

Dinner was a nice and quiet affair with both Sam and Dean bragging about their new positions and how they were both starting in the upcoming games. John responded with pride, quick to dole out praises, not to leave out Aiden, who had been the first child in his first grade class to read a book without assistance.

"Can we watch TV?" Sam asked.

"Have you finished your homework?" Mary questioned, giving John a dish to dry.

It was the normal evening routine for the family. Mary would wash and John would dry. The kids would watch TV, only after they promised that all their homework was done. It was the childhood and normalcy that Mary had always wanted for her own childhood. She was glad she was able to give it to her own children. If this had been a true Campbell house there would be training after dinner and then straight to bed, because you didn't want to do much of anything after the training sessions that Samuel set up.

"Aiden, bed time," John ordered around eight thirty.

True to form Aiden tried to wheedle another half-hour out of his father and was unsuccessful. Together, Mary, John, Aiden, and Hailey walked upstairs. John helped Aiden through his night routine of PJs and brushing his teeth as Mary got Hailey ready. Already the little girl was yawning, her slightly too big blue eyes at half mast.

"Say goodnight to your sister," John whispered as Mary set her in the crib.

"Night Hay," Aiden said, kissing her on the forehead.

"Good night, Hailey," Mary grinned giving her baby girl a kiss.

"Night sweetheart," John said, placing a warm hand on his daughter's chest.

Hailey cooed at all of them before yawning widely. Mary and John then walked to Aiden's room to read him a story and tuck him in. They rejoined their older two children a half hour later. The four watched TV for a short time before it was time for Dean and Sam to go to bed. After a hug and kiss for each boy, the two walked upstairs quietly.

"I'm going to head upstairs, sweetheart," Mary announced when a war documentary came on. "Long day."

"I'll be up soon," John replied giving his wife a deeper kiss. He smiled as she walked upstairs.

Mary quickly peaked into each one of her children's room to make sure everything was okay before climbing into bed. It was in the middle of the night when Mary startled awake. She heard Hailey crying through the baby monitor and yawned. Today was John's night, but he wasn't in bed with her, his side was cold. Shrugging Mary trudged down the hallway and opened the nursery door. She found John standing over the crib, guess he had beat her here after all.

"John?" Mary whispered. "She hungry?"

The response she got was, "Shhh."

"Okay," Mary replied.

She turned around and realized the hallway light was flickering. Her hackles rose as she walked to the light and tapped it, when it stopped she let go of the breathe she hadn't realized she was holding. Mary turned to go back to the master bedroom and saw light and movement coming from downstairs. Without fully realizing it, she was already half way down the stairs. John had fallen asleep to the movie, leaving the television on. If he was down here then…

"Hailey!" Mary exclaimed rushing back upstairs and into the nursery once more.

The figure turned around and sneered at her.

"It's you," Mary growled.

She moved to lunge when an invisible force slammed her against the wall. Air whooshed out of her lungs as she struggled to get to her feet, get to Hailey.

"Long time, no see, Mary," The figure growled. "You're interfering."

"You son of a bitch!" Mary hissed.

Mary fought tooth and nail as she was dragged up the wall until she was directly above Hailey's crib. The girl was looking at her as Mary gasped. Suddenly white-hot pain was searing through her abdomen as she growled and hissed. The pain was excruciating and she couldn't help but scream.

John ran into the room seconds later to find it empty, except for Hailey. His brows are pitched low in confusion, sure that he had heard his wife screaming. His own heart beat loudly in his ears as the unused adrenaline moves through his veins. Must've been one realistic nightmare, the marine thought to himself. Lord knows that it's happened enough over the years. He hears Hailey coo from the bed as he walked over to make sure his daughter was okay. John's palm smoothens over Hailey's fine blonde hairs, a smile tugging at the rugged man's lips. He's just about to turn away, head to bed when a small, bright red spot landed near Hailey's head. When he moved to touch it another red spot, then another landed on his hand. John frowned glancing up at the ceiling, what he saw froze him to the spot.

Mary Winchester hung over their daughter's bed. There was a large cut across her stomach, her mouth was frozen in a scream, eyes wide in horror. She was shockingly pale, dead.

"Mary!" John screamed. "No! Mary!"

Ice replaced adrenaline in John's veins, freezing him to the spot, forcing him to look up at his wife. Her own features frozen in agony. If only he had been a few minutes faster, he might've been able to do something. The only thing that unfroze John from his place was Hailey's startled cries as fire suddenly burst out from behind Mary's body. He tore his eyes away from Mary lunging towards the crib and grabbing Hailey out of it and running into the hallway. John nearly ran into Dean, who was flanked by Aiden and Sammy.

"Dad, what's going…"

"Dean, take them outside as fast as you can, don't look back," John ordered, cutting off his son's question. He shoved the fussing girl into his arms. "Now, Dean, go!"

Dean didn't question it, he turned grabbing Sam's hand, who had picked up Aiden and rushed down the stairs and out the front door. John had gone back to try and save Mary, but he was too late, his wife was gone, murdered in a second. Seeing no other choice he followed the path his children had taken moments before leading them far away from the house as the window to the nursery exploded.

The next few days were dark, bleak. None of his children spoke. Not even Sam, or Aiden both of whom could talk to a brick wall for hours. Mary Winchester's death had hit them all hard. Now his children were motherless, John himself was drowning in his own grief. He barely remembered to call Mary's sisters. John's best friend, Mike and his wife Luann helped them out the best they could.

Luann made sure they had food, Mike took care of the garage. He also called the children out of school, under the circumstances, no one argued against it. Everything the Winchester's owned had gone up in flames, demolishing the house from the inside. John couldn't talk about that night, no one believed what he told them.

Mary on the ceiling might not be believable, but it was the truth. The fire marshal had said that an electrical short had caused the fire. And it was the stress and grief of what had happened that made John _imagine_ that he saw Mary on the ceiling.

"John," Luann called, walking into the guest room. "Trixie and Tess are here to see you."

John rose to his feet, apprehensive. The few meetings he had with Trix and Tess were awkward to say to least. They made their displeasure known. Although, he wasn't exactly sure why they didn't approve. He often caught the three sisters having whispered disagreements that cut off when he walked into the room. Then there was something Tess had said during one holiday meal, something about a Poltergeist. To this day, he didn't understand why Mary had gotten so upset, or why Tess looked smug.

"John," Trixie greeted.

"Hello, Trixie," John sighed.

What he really wanted to say was, what the hell are you both doing here? He considers the moment to praise his self-control that he didn't. The tall, lithe blonde woman was as all business as the day he met her. The only clue that the sister's were struggling as much as he was their red-rimmed eyes.

"The funeral's on Wednesday," Tess announced. The words coming out choked and breathless. As though it had physically pained her to say the words.

"Okay," John shrugged.

"Are you going?" Trixie questioned, her blue eyes narrowing, like Mary's eyes…Hailey's. Jesus this was difficult.

"There's nothing to bury," John growled, brusquely.

"It's for closure," Tess said.

"Closure?" John repeated. "My wife's dead. My children lost their mother. There's no closure for that."

"You're not the only one who lost someone that night, John," Trixie warned. "She was our baby sister."

"Yeah, and y'all were so close you barely saw each other once a year," John scoffed.

The two women flinched as though John had struck them, he himself was aware of the low blow but he couldn't bring himself to care.

"You're a bastard, Winchester," Tess hissed. "If it weren't for you she'd probably be alive instead she just had to pretend with you."

"Excuse me?" John demanded.

"You heard me," Tess snarled. "This is your fault!"

"Tess!" Trixie reprimanded. "John, listen, we all might've had our differences but we know how much you loved Mary and how much those kids loved her too. We're sorry for your loss and it would mean a lot to our family if you came. It might do you some good."

The two turned to go when John thought about the whispered conversations, the poltergeist debacle, and what Tess had just said about how Mary was pretending. Pretending about what? If she didn't love him then why did she have four children with him?

"Wait!" John called following the sister's out the front door. No one had believed what he had seen was real but they might. It was worth a shot.

"What is it?" Tess asked.

"The night Mary died," John whispered, coughed then rallied himself. "The night she died, I saw her. She was pinned to the ceiling above Hailey's crib. Her stomach was ripped open."

"Pinned to the ceiling?" Trixie repeated, shooting Tess a perplexed glance.

"Yes, like there was something keeping her there," John explained.

"Shit," Tess mumbled.

"You believe me?" John gasped.

"Yes, we do," Trixie said. "This changes things."

"You really wanna know what happened that night, there's one person you need to talk to," Tess explained. "Her name's Missouri Moseley."

"The psychic?" John scoffed.

"No one likes a skeptic, Winchester," Trixie retorted. "You having trouble getting people to believe you? She will and she'll tell you everything you want to know and more."

Missouri Moseley did exactly what Trixie had told him she would. That and more, the older black woman, opening up a world that John hadn't even known existed. There was once a time where he thought psychics were full of shit, but she simply knew too much information to be a fake.

A demon had killed his Mary, stolen his children's childhood, and had taken the idea of normalcy away. On June 21, 1990, the lives of the Winchester family had been changed irreparably. It would send Mary Winchester's family down a path that she had fought all her life to get away from.

Sometimes fate was cruel like that.


	2. Familiar Territory

**Chapter Two: Familiar Territory**

"_All truths are easy to understand once they're discovered the point is to discover them."_

**Eleven Years Later (Outsider's Point of View)**

After the loss of Mary, John went of the rails a bit. It was a collision course only softened (barely) by finding out the truth. It was a shock to his system to find out that not only did Mary's family hunt supernatural entities, but that the Campbell's were one of the biggest and well-known hunting families that existed.

Of course, that discovery was stretched over the next few years. After John, with the kids in tow left Kansas, for good they went to Manning, Colorado where John trained under the tutelage of Daniel Elkins. Elkins taught John everything he knew about hunting. Had told him how to keep his children safe and how to kill things. Unfortunately, none of those things were what killed his Mary, no on was really sure what that was. Daniel also gave John numerous contacts. There was Caleb, who had so many weapons that it was a little disconcerting. There was Bobby Singer, who was the source for demonology, seriously, the stuff in that guy's head was a little scary. Bobby, also hooked John up with Abram Jefferson.

Eventually the hunting network brought him to some very familiar names. Trixie and Tess. Although their surnames had changed, the family business hadn't. Trixie had welcomed John warmly, despite the fact that their last meeting was a full blown screaming match because neither John nor his children went to the funeral.

Trixie had shed the light on many weird things that Mary had easily covered up. The fact that the family had split after the mention of Poltergeist made so much more sense now that John knew it wasn't over a movie. Granted, the only reason why he believed such a thing was because she had the tendency to be a little hormonal when she was pregnant.

Meeting Ellen Harvelle had been the last nail in the his-wife-led-a-completely-different-life coffin. Ellen and John had met a few times before he and Mary were engaged. Hell, they had been to Ellen's wedding, and Ellen had been Mary's maid of honor. The fact that Mary had covered up something that had once been a huge part of her life was a little confusing. The fact that there was something so entrenched in Mary's life that he didn't know about hurt. On particular dark days when John drank a little more than he should he thought about their marriage. Would things be different if he had been a hunter from the get-go? It was that kind of pain that John kept from his children. Not that Dean, Sam, Aiden or Hailey would even know that Trixie and Tess were actually their blood relatives, their Aunts. Trixie, Tess, and Mary had a falling out before Dean was three years old. By the time Sammy came into the picture the sister's barely sent on another Merry Christmas cards.

As far as the Winchester children were concerned the only blood relatives they had were John's sister Hilary and her family. There was her first husband, Matt Murphy. Together they had a little girl two years younger than Dean, Charlotte. When Matt died in what Hilary had originally told John was a car accident she had raised Charlie on her own until she met Joe Garwin. Hilary and Joe eventually got married and had a son named Reid, who was Hailey's age.

As it turned out John was the last Winchester to be informed of the hunting world. His sister's first husband was a hunter; his brother Jim ran a parish in Blue Earth, Minnesota. But, Murphy brothers had been raised in the hunting lifestyle and Matt had introduced Hilary to it. When he died in hellspawn attack, Hilary had said it was a car accident. She still hunted making sure to protect her daughter anyway she could. When she had heard of witches in Ipswich, Massachusetts she investigated and fell in love with one, after discovering that they weren't the satanic kind.

Knowing now how much danger lurked in the shadows were enough to make him want to lock his children up, protect the little family he had left. Instead John trained them like Elkins had trained him. Sam and Dean were quick studies, despite having grown up in a vastly different environment. John's younger two were naturals, if only because they didn't remember any other way. It seemed that everyone around them knew Latin, or at least enough Latin to string together an exorcism rite. When they were old enough they did the amount of training their brothers did. Marksmanship, hand-to-hand, and cardio. Anything that could give them a little more advantage, level the playing field.

"Come on, Hailey!" John shouted. "Look sharp!"

The young girl glowered at her father as she ducked the right hook that was thrown at her head. The eleven year old ducked and countered, kicking her right leg out catching her aggressor in the stomach.

"Ow, Hay."

That aggressor was her fourteen-year-old brother, Aiden. At fourteen year old, Aiden had one hell of a growth spurt, now standing at five feet eleven inches. He was all long limbs and as a result of that he was clumsy, adjusting to his new height. At the moment though, Aiden was nearly folded in half, hands on his knees as he fought to get back the air his younger sister had knocked out.

"Okay, guys, let's call this a day," John sighed.

John fought back at tired smile as he looked at his four children. Dean was his oldest. He took after his father in a lot of ways, sharing the same built and height. Dean was now twenty-one years old, something he relished flaunting his idea because he was actually legally able to drink, fake ID or no fake. Dean had shortly cropped, slightly spiky dark blonde hair and sparkling emerald eyes. A trait all the Winchester men shared.

Dean was currently helping his younger brother Samuel up. Samuel, more aptly known as Sam accepted the hand, dusting off his pants and cracking his spine. Sam at the moment was the tallest of his siblings. At seventeen years old he was six feet two inches and counting. Passing by John and Dean, much to the latter's dismay. What irked the Winchester patriarch was the fact that Sam was insistent on keeping his hair long. The chocolate brown hair was past his ears and nearly brushing his shoulders in some spots.

Aiden, the youngest boy in the Winchester clan seemed to be modeling his caramel colored hair after Sam, with his own personal touches. Honestly, Aiden's hair was the most unruly. No matter what it couldn't be tamed. Aiden had straightened from his crouched position casting a glance at the youngest Winchester. It was part irritation, part pride.

"I taught you that move and you use it on me?" Aiden grumbled. "Really nice, Hay."

"I had to make sure it worked," Hailey smirked.

"Brat," Aiden smirked.

John felt something tug on his throat as he watched his baby girl smile. It was exact replica of the way his Mary smiled. His daughter was in every way exactly like her mother. Her long platinum blonde hair, porcelain white skin, and sapphire eyes were reminders of what John once had. God only knows what the Winchesters might've been if that demon hadn't paid them a visit. He might've lost the love of his life, but he still had his children. That was something he was thankful for each and every day.

"Hailey, you need to keep your blocks up when you're sparring," John scolded as his kids came closer. "Aiden, stop taking it easy on your sister, it won't help her in the long run."

"You kids getting hungry?" John asked as they all walked up the front steps of the large wooden cabin that served as the Winchester's primary base of operations.

The large log cabin had been in the Winchester family for decades. It was placed in the dead center of a few acres of land in the community Lakewood, New York. It was in the town of Freemont. The town had less than two thousand residents creating a community where people knew one another and it was not uncommon for people to keep to themselves. This was one of the only few places where the Winchester children were enrolled in school full time, allowing credits to transfer back and forth. That way they would at least graduate on time and have someone else keep track of them meeting all the requirements.

The Winchester family valued their privacy, which was why they chose this particular town because of how secluded it is. John knew that nearly ever person in this town, especially those controlling the schools and the records could be trusted. John might have to raise his children in an unconventional manner, but he was pretty sure that if he allowed his children not to get an education, Mary would kill strike him down.

The safe house looked like other houses in the neighborhood. It was spacious and comfortable. It was a five bedroom, three-bathroom house. It had a wrap-around porch and a pretty nice kitchen. The house was primarily wood on the outside with stones wrapping around the lower third of the building.

Unlike other houses in the area, the house as well as the rest of the land was protected in every way imaginable against the supernatural. Iron was buried all along the property in multiple places, forming rings, so that if one ring was broken there were others to act as back-ups. The house itself had Devil's traps on every wall, floor, and ceiling, hidden under carpet and paint. A Devil's trap was like a mousetrap for demons. There was also salt around every perimeter; Trapped under the carpet with an additional layer on top. Salt as well as iron (which was in every light fixture) acted as a spirit repellant. After what had happened in Lawrence, John didn't think any precaution was too great.

Something else that set the Winchester home apart from others was their basement. It had gym mats instead of any other type of flooring, so that they had a place to spar, when the other wasn't so great. It also had another small hidden room that was full of weapons. There was another stash of weapons in the attic. Both places for weapons weren't easily accessible for those who didn't know the password to the keypad that would open both hidden rooms.

While the house was as safe as it could possibly be, the Winchesters moved around a lot. There were cases all over the country and as such they'd go wherever they were needed. Hailey and Aiden were still a little young to be in the field, so they were typically let at the motel room that the family was occupying at the time or with family friends. Sam and Dean, Dean more often than not came with John on cases because in those situations you needed someone to watch your back. As his children grew older, the more they moved from state to state. In addition to their house in New York, they had safe houses scattered all over the country as well as friends and allies all over the country.

The only time the Winchesters stilled was for injuries or just to take a break. When you worked case after case, you ran the risk of over working yourself. There was also the risk of drawing the wrong kind of attention. The United States had hunters all over the place, which made it easy to pass cases along to other people. It was a network, a very well run network.

"I could eat," Dean shrugged.

"When can't you eat?" Sam scoffed.

"Some of us don't need to watch our girlish figures, Samantha," Dean teased, shutting the front door behind himself.

"Can we have pasta?" Aiden asked.

"Sure, junior," John grinned. "You all go clean up, I'll start dinner."

He would've been blind to miss the looks his kids exchanged before they bolted, scrambling up the stairs with Hailey in the lead. John didn't bother to scold them, allowing them to have their fun. He watched as his daughter ducked under her brother's longer limbs enabling her to get into the bathroom and shut the door.

"Every damn time," Aiden whined.

John laughed as he walked into the kitchen. It was true that Hailey more often than not got the first shower. The girl might've been the smallest, but she was the fastest, using her stature to her advantage. It was always a battle with his children about who got the hottest water. His boys would swear that Hailey was a shower hog, but truthfully, she took the fastest showers. It was Sam who liked taking twenty-minute showers.

An hour later everyone had washed up and were enjoying dinner. It was a very peaceful night. The food was good and the conversation was pleasant, albeit odd for most people. The Winchesters were exchanging stories and offering critiques for sparing and weapons training. The entire family had made the best they could out of a bad situation. They were a hell of a lot closer than most families were, but when trusting one another with one another's lives, that happened. Dean was explaining how best to subdue something regardless of height or weight to Hailey who for her part was listening attentively. Aiden was telling Sam and John about a new exorcism rite he found, and how it might be a lot easier to memorize. Aiden just wasn't sure whether or not the rite had been field-tested. But, if it was successful it might make exorcisms easier and faster.

Days like this were one of the reasons why John had kept this house. It was nice to spend some time as a family without stepping on each other's toes. In a motel room or the car, back when there was only one, room was tight and tempers were quick to flare. This house allowed them to stay and train together, while giving everyone some breathing room. The atmosphere stayed nice and upbeat throughout the rest of the night and into next morning. But, after nearly twenty-two years of parenting, John really should've known that the quiet wouldn't last forever.

When news of an incoming hunt broke over breakfast the next morning, three of his four children seemed excited. They had eaten quickly and had gone to pack up, doing exactly what he had ordered them to do. Sam, however, seemed content to ignore the order and glare at his father. John bit back a sigh as he rose to his feet taking a few steps away from the kitchen table.

"Did you not hear me, son?" John asked.

"No, I heard you," Sam growled.

Sam couldn't see his father close his eyes in irritation before they flew open. No matter how lenient or not lenient he was towards his children that tone, riddled with disrespect was one of the few things that got under his skin the fastest.

"Do not test me, Samuel," John Winchester warned.

The Winchester Patriarch was a former Marine corporal. He fought valiantly for his country, lost friend, brothers. Seen the horrors that mankind could and would inflict on one another. John Winchester had been trained by the very best, but there were some things that even the military couldn't prepare you for. Children. Or more specifically one child because it seemed that Sam loved going toe-to-toe with him on every single issue.

"Why can't we stay in one place for longer than a fucking month, Dad?" Sam snarled.

"Watch that mouth," John reprimanded, instantly.

Most of the time John didn't really care too much about foul language. As long as his children didn't use it in school or public, it didn't matter to him. But, lately Hailey had taken to cursing like a moth to a flame and John had no one but himself (and his boys) to blame. Hailey didn't care where they were, if she thought a situation warranted cursing, then she'd let fly. So, he was trying to set an example, even if it seemed too little, too late.

Sam's mouth clicked shut, glaring at his father furiously. He was far too angry to care that his father was seconds away from losing his temper. Something that most people did their very best to avoid. John could feel the pressure building right behind his eyes and knew somewhere that his own father must've been enjoying the show.

"_You'll have some holy terrors of your own one day, Johnny boy," Aiden Winchester laughed. "Mark my words they'll make you look near Saintly."_

John hadn't recalled exactly what his response to his father was, but it was probably something snarky. Karma was a bitch.

"Samuel, unless you want to ride to St. Louis on a sore behind you will get in that room and pack up," John ordered sharply.

Sam clenched his jaw gauging whether or not his father was bluffing before he turned on his heel and stomped out of the kitchen. Seconds later a door in the hallway slammed shut with enough force to shake the house to its foundations.

"Mary, that boy of ours has your temper and my stubbornness," John whispered looking up. "It's a miracle I haven't strangled 'im."

John took a moment to regroup and shrug off the fight. If Sam knew the truth maybe he wouldn't be so hard on his father. But, Sam thought that John wanted this for his children, or something. The truth was that John wanted nothing more than to settle down, pretend that evil didn't exist. But, it wasn't a luxury that the Winchester couldn't afford.

"Ow!" The outraged voice of his youngest yelped, piercing through his thoughts. "The fuck is your problem, Sammy?"

"Hailey Jade!" John reproached.

He fought back another sigh so far the banning of foul language had yet to deter the eleven year old. Screw the things that went bump in the night, his children were going to be the death of him.

"But, Dad," Hailey complained.

"Fucking tattletale," Sam grumbled, dropping one of his duffel bags near the front door.

"Sam!" John hissed. "Thin ice, buddy boy. Don't provoke your sister."

John ignored the indignant look that was shot his way at the reprimand as he walked into the hallway. He saw his youngest standing at the top of the stairs, a scowl marring her normally (deceptively) innocent features. She was already all packed up carrying her two duffel bags and a backpack for school.

When Hailey caught sight of her father, he face changed into what Aiden had nicknamed her angel routine. It worked on a lot of people but John had yet to be one of them.

"Hailey Jade, that's your last warning to clean up your language," John called up to her.

"Sorry, sir," Hailey sighed.

John offered his daughter a small smile before he walked back into the kitchen, making sure that everything was packed and ready to go. He had already packed the night before after being woken up by his cell phone. It turned out that a friend of his had found a hunt right in their backyard. He turned around when he heard the soft tread of footsteps as Hailey walked into the kitchen.

"Where'd Dean go?" Hailey asked.

"Sent him and Aiden out to get food," He explained.

A few minutes later the roar of the 1967 Chevy impala echoed down the private driveway. At one time the sleek black car had been John's but it had been given to Dean as present for him getting his GED. Now John drove a 1986 GMC Sierra Grande with a well-stocked weapon's compartment, more organized then the weapons trunk in the impala.

The front door swung open, revealing the last two members of the Winchester brood. Dean had been the one to open the door. He had a smile on his face, making his green eyes light up mischievously. His light brown hair was shorn short and his lean frame had become much more muscular from all the hunting and training he had been doing. Dean had taken it upon himself to help train Aiden and Hailey. He also spared with Sam, though that particular activity had been suspended since Sam had been craving a fight.

"Hey," Dean gasped. "Sorry about the wait. Burger King was really crowded."

"And the cashier was hot," Aiden snickered, moving past Dean. A smug grin on his face, at least until Dean had smacked him upside the head.

Aiden had taken the slap with good humor, turning to grin at Dean, who for his part laughed and rolled his eyes as he approached his father, holding out the food. On his way to John, Dean had ruffled Aiden's hair, causing the other to growl and fix it. Though, the Winchester Patriarch couldn't tell the difference.

"You get her number, son?" John rolled his eyes.

"No, sir," Dean said.

Dean barely had time to get into the living room before Sam whirled in grabbing his burger, scowling at every one. "Whoa, who pissed in your cheerios, Sammy?"

"It's Sam, Dean," Sam growled. "How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"As many times as you want to, _Sammy_," Dean laughed.

"Let's get moving," John ordered. Interrupting what would've turned into a fight.

For reasons unbeknownst to the rest of the family, Sam had started to hate the nickname he had been given since infancy. Most of the family tried their damndest to honor his sudden change of heart, but Dean made no such gesture because it didn't matter how old Sam got. He'd always be Sammy.

"We'll eat on the road," John said. "Hails!"

"Coming!"

Hailey slid into the room, grabbing one of the take-out bags, along with her duffel bags before moving into the cool New York evening. She threw her duffel bags into the truck of the impala before going into the backseat of the car.

"You kids be safe," John said. "Dean, we'll rendezvous in Binghamton?"

"Yes, sir," Dean replied.

Although, John never had the intention of leaving his children, he knew from experience that it was good to have a rendezvous point. He also knew that given Dean's penchant to speeding that there was a good chance that they'd lose one another. Then again Dean's speeding was slightly counteracted by his younger brothers and sister's need for rest stops.

"You all have everything you need?" John questioned. When they all nodded John continued, "I'll see you all in a few hours. Sam, I hope that your attitude has resolved itself by then. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir," Sam growled.

John shook his head at the boy's surly tone, but decided for the sake of timing to let it go. With one last warning look, he walked towards his own truck. By the time he got situated the impala had already driven by. It was only a few hours drive between here and Binghamton, which was hardly the worst drive either he or Dean had done. He hadn't told them what hunt it was because Jefferson himself wasn't even sure. He thought it could be a regular haunting or a poltergeist. Either way Jefferson was sure that he needed some extra hands, which was why they were going to him as fast as they could.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Note: I just wanted to explain the previous chapter. Yes, the story was taken down once because I decided that because in this universe Dean was ten and Sam was six when Mary was killed, they would have more memories of her. So, I decided to describe a typical day, and how truly normal the day of Mary Winchester's death was. Dean and Sam's exposure to the normal world and then the complete 180 into the life of a hunter will be explored further. <em>**

**_Another thing is that Aiden and Hailey are named after John's parents both of whom are deceased through natural causes. If there are any questions please ask._**

**_~Beccatdemon13  
><em>**


	3. Textbook Case

**Chapter Three: Textbook Case**

"_Every journey into the past is complicated by delusions, false memories, false naming of real events._

Dean remembered a time when he was a normal kid. When the only thing that concerned him was whether or not his soccer team would make States again. As center forward, it came on his shoulders. Whether or not they won or lost, it was on him. Then that fateful June day happened and his life was changed forever. It was a hell of a thing to be forced to grow up when you're only ten years old. To know what horror truly is. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair how people three times his age wouldn't know how scary the world really is. How fragile life really was, and he learned it before he even hit puberty.

On a good day, Dean only remembers the heat of the fire, the feeling of Hailey squirming in his arms. Her little face scrunched up as she screamed and cried. On bad nights he remembers his mother screaming. A sound that had woken him out of a dead sleep because of how loud it was. How filled with pain it was. That scream was something no one should ever have to hear, but he did. And, sometimes he remembered that night all at once. Those were the times where he'd wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to go to sleep.

When Ms. Watson had asked Dean's fourth grade class what they wanted to be when they grew up, Dean had said a firefighter. He had never imagined a world quite like the one he found himself in. The oldest Winchester child was a resilient person, he absorbed what his father and Daniel Elkins and other hunters taught him. Dean was good at hunting, he was good at protecting his family. But, no matter how much he excelled in his new life, it didn't change the way he felt, what he remembered. What was once a constant no longer was, everything had changed.

His life was no longer about soccer, homework, and hanging out with his friends. Dean no longer had a home to go back to. His mother was dead and his father had changed into this shell of a man. Dean often thought that the only thing that kept his father going sometimes was revenge. Revenge on the thing that had torn their family apart. The only home Dean had was the impala and while the safe houses came close it wasn't the same. Not when you could pack up all your possessions in two duffel bags and hit the road. But, that was what life was now, and Dean Winchester was not a quiter.

The only noise he could here at the moment was the quiet roar of the impala, his siblings were all in various forms of sleep. Sam was sleeping with his head against the passenger window, while Aiden and Hailey had fallen asleep on top of one another. The roads were pretty much deserted at this time of night, Dean could make out his father's headlights a few feet behind him. Dean had always liked driving at this time of night, he could go as fast as he wanted, his siblings were normally asleep so there would be no bickering and Metallica was playing softly on the radio. He was so focused on driving he didn't notice when Hailey began to stir before awakening.

"Where are we?" Hailey asked, pushing Aiden off of her to rest against the window.

"An hour outside Binghamton," Dean replied.

"You okay to drive?" Hailey wondered. "You've been driving all night."

"Yeah, squirt, I'm fine," Dean grinned.

"Dean…"

"Hails, you're eleven, there's no way your driving the impala."

"Dean, how am I supposed to learn the basics if you never let me practice?"

"We can't afford a trooper spotting you behind the wheel, so no go, Hails," Dean shook his head. "Besides no one else is on the road, Dad's truck and the impala are the only cars I've seen in forty five minutes. So, we're going twenty miles above the speed limit, we'll get there soon."

Seeing that she wouldn't be winning this argument, Hailey settled back into her seat, glancing out of her window. She didn't feel Dean's eyes on her, from where he was watching through the rearview mirror.

"What's weighing on your mind, Hails?" Dean asked.

At first it seemed like the youngest Winchester was going to ignore the question until she turned her attention back to Dean. It was very clear from the look on oldest brother's face that Hailey wouldn't be able to get away with saying nothing.

"Sam hates it here, you know," she whispered. "He's miserable. I think he's going to leave."

"Don't worry about things you can't control," Dean said. "Okay?"

"Yeah," Hailey muttered.

The Winchesters finally arrived in Binghamton just shy of seven in the morning. Abram Jefferson was one of the many 'Uncles' the Winchester children had. Most people just referred to him as Jefferson, something that the man in question took in stride. He was a tall imposing figure, someone who might've been a pro-wrestler or a football player in another life. No one quite knew when and where Jefferson had gotten into hunting, people just knew that he was one of the best.

"John," Jefferson greeted with a smile as he threw open the door.

"Thanks for letting us stay here, Jeff," John said.

"Don't mention it, Winchester."

"Hi, Jefferson," Dean smiled.

"Dean-o, how you been?"

"Dealing," Dean smirked. "Hunting some."

"Killed a black-dog a few weeks back," Dad smirked clapping Dean on the shoulder.

"Impressive," Jefferson smiled. "Hello Hails, Aiden, Sammy."

"Hi," Aiden, Sam, and Hailey said.

"You guys can take the rooms up the stairs to your right," Jefferson said. "Dean, you going to help us on this?"

**Hailey's Point of View**

Aiden and I went up the stairs taking the first empty guest room we found. I dropped my bags on the bed the furthest from the door, reveling in the fact that we'd be sleeping in clean beds and I'd be sleeping on a bed by myself. It was great. When we were settled; I walked back downstairs, finding Dad, Dean and Jefferson pouring over newspaper articles and circling things on a map.

"You guys settled?" Jefferson asked when he caught sight of me.

"Yes, sir," I responded. "Thank you for letting us stay here."

"S'not a problem," Jefferson grinned. "Y'all hungry?"

"Hell yes!" Dean shouted as Aiden and Sam ran down the stairs.

"Pizza?" Jefferson asked, looking at Dad for confirmation.

"Works for us," Dad replied.

"Any toppings in particular?"

"Pepperoni," Sam, Dean, Aiden, and I said instantly.

"You got it," Jefferson laughed.

In a half hour the pizza boy arrived with four pizzas. I was glad that we had gotten enough pizzas because between my brothers and I alone we could demolish two whole pizzas. And I had no doubt that both Jefferson and Dad could eat as much as us, as well. When we had polished off all the pizza, we turned in early. Partly because we had been on the road for so long that we were exhausted. The next morning I walked down into Jefferson's living room. It looked like an armory had exploded, guns and knives littered every surface.

"Mornin, Hails," Dad greeted.

"Hi Dad," I yawned. "You and Jefferson heading out."

"In a few hours. There were a few more murders last night; we have to get ahead of this thing." Dad frowned. "It's already drawing too much attention. People think there's a serial killer running around."

"Crap," I mumbled.

Suspected serial killers meant an increased police presence. A police presence that no doubt included Federal Agents. Which meant that the hunt had be taken care of quickly and quietly. The fact that Dad and Jefferson thought this was a werewolf meant that things would b far from quickly or quietly.

"Yeah," Dad said. "You and Aiden are staying behind. We'll be needing Dean and Sam."

I could tell that Dad was weighing whether or not to bring Dean and Sam. Dad had never been thrilled with leaving Aiden and I alone. I think it was just because we were the youngest because it wasn't like we weren't as trained as our older brothers. Protective instincts ran deep in my family, and leaving us alone wasn't something Dad, Dean, or Sam particularly liked. Sometimes, Dad sidelined them knowing that their mind wouldn't be completely on the hunt, which was a dangerous concept. Any distractions could be the difference between walking away or dying.

Still, the fact that this werewolf was killing more and more people was a problem we couldn't ignore. The world of hunting was a large one, most of whom had criminal records as a result of their extracurricular activities. So, if hunters were to suddenly flock the area that would draw even more unwanted attention. As it was whenever regular police got involved in our line of work, people died because they didn't know what they were doing.

"Let's get the lead out, boys!" Dad called up the stairs. "Aiden, you're in charge. Hails, listen to your brother. We will be staying in a motel so that if the werewolf catches our scents it won't come here. Aiden, when we leave burn some sage, you guys know what to look out for. We'll call you, keep the door locked, do not leave. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," Aiden and I said.

"You runts be good," Dean smirked.

"Be safe," I whispered.

"Don't worry, Hailey Jade, we're gonna say the day," Dean soothed.

He ruffled my hair laughing when I batted his hand away before he walked out of the door shutting it behind him.

"Lock it, runt," Dean ordered.

Aiden rolled his eyes before obediently setting all the locks on the front door. He then set up the alarm system before turning to me.

"Well, what can we do?"

"TV?" I shrugged.

Being stuck in the house there wasn't much we could do other than watch TV. Aiden walked over and hopped onto the couch. He grabbed the remote and started to flip through the channels quickly. It was the way Aiden had always tried to find something to watch, something that drove Sam nut. Which was one of the reasons why Dean and I were the only ones allowed to change the channel when we were all in the same motel room.

"Hay, look Nightmare on Elm Street," Aiden laughed. "Wanna watch?"

"Fuck yeah," I smirked.

While I felt most comfortable when my entire family was together, it was nice when it was just Aiden and I. Dad, Dean, and Sam still tried to convince me not to curse. Even though I had learned every single one of those words and how to string them into quite colorful sentences just by listening to the three of them. So, really they had only themselves to blame, not that I was foolish enough to voice that sentiment out loud. Aiden, on the other hand didn't care if I cursed or not. As long as I didn't leave the house, Aiden was fine. He always reasoned that he was more a brother than an authority figure, which was sometimes was what Sam and Dean were.

"What do you want for dinner?" Aiden asked after we finished watching the movie.

"Pasta?" I shrugged.

Aiden seemed to agree with the suggestion, switching off the television and wandering into Jefferson's kitchen. After a quick inventory of what exactly he had in his pantry, we settled on spinach pasta and marinara sauce. We were pretty quiet as we cooked the pasta and heated up the sauce. That silence followed into us eating our meal in front of the television before we cleaned up.

We stayed up longer than we normally did watching movies, most of which were of the horror genre. One might think that we Winchesters had enough horror in our normal lives, which was true. But, it was also interesting to see the general populations take on the things that went bump in the night. Some of their predictions were accurate, most weren't, though it was entertaining to watch regardless.

It was around two in the morning when Aiden and I called it a night. We made sure that the entire house was secure with the salt, charms, and protective sigils. After checking that the doors were locked and every window was latched we fell into bed. The downside of sharing a room with Aiden, or any of my brothers, or father for that matter was the fact that they snored. I learned to get use to a certain degree of noise, it was a careful balance of being able to sleep through just about anything and being able to snap awake at any moment's notice.

The next few days passed by with little incident. Aiden and I stayed in the house, watching television and reading. We cooked whatever we could find in the house, knowing that if Dad found out we had left, he'd kill us. Still, after three days in the same house with very little to keep us occupied, the thought of stepping out even for a walk seemed heavenly.

Dean checked in to tell us that they were closing in on the werewolf, and they'd probably be home soon. After another movie, Aiden and I called it a night. A few hours later, I heard the unmistakable sound of glass shattering, I sprang out of bed. Aiden, for his part was still fast asleep, causing me to roll my eyes in irritation. I quickly put on a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans before I fished out one of the guns that had silver bullets in it. Before I opened the door, I listened for anything, like the sound of paws on the floor.

"Oh, shit," I muttered.

I rushed to Aiden's side shaking him awake.

"Hay, what the hell?" Aiden mumbled, trying to shove me away. "S'the middle of t'night go 'way."

"There's something in the house," I whispered.

"What?" Aiden demanded. This time his eyes snapped open, alert and on guard as he listened to the house.

He sprang out of bed, grabbing one of the other guns and the bulky cell phone that Dad had given us before he left. He hit the first speed dial and waited. Normally there were specified check-ins during hunts, other than those times, there was a strictly enforced radio silence. Breaking radio silence was only acceptable in emergencies and didn't happen very often.

"Aiden?" Dad questioned, his gruff voice echoing around the room. "Everything okay?"

"There's something in the house," Aiden hissed.

"What?" Dad demanded.

Aiden waved me over before handing me the cell phone.

"Sir, I heard a window break," I explained. "And it sounds like there's paws walking around outside."

"Shit," Dad growled. "We'll be there soon, kiddo, sit tight."

"Yes, sir," I replied.

I didn't know where exactly Dad or the others were held up but I had the sinking feeling that they wouldn't get here on time. Aiden seemed to realize exactly what I had and sighed.

"Your call, Aiden," I shrugged. "Dad left you in charge."

"How do you kill a werewolf, Hay?" Aiden asked.

Aiden's normally mellow personality had shifted into something tense and serious. He had asked the question to hear my answer, even though we both knew exactly how to take down a werewolf.

"Silver bullet to the heart," I replied.

"Shoot first, ask questions later," Aiden ordered.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"Open the door," Aiden said.

I put my hand on the doorknob waiting for Aiden to give me the signal that he was ready. The second I saw him nod, I thumbed off the safety of my own pistol as I swung the door open.

"_Shit!"_ Aiden yelled. "Hailey, shut the door!"

I slammed it shut just as the sound of running claws and growling filled the air. Multiple bodies hit the door as I tried to close it. I struggled against the weight on the other side, grunting in frustration. Aiden realized that I was struggling and helped me shut it, locking it quickly. We both stepped back, watching the door shake.

"That's not going to hold," Aiden frowned. "We got it wrong. It's not werewolves, the lunar cycle is right but…"

"Skinwalkers, right?" I guessed.

"Yeah, they have the pack mentality," Aiden sighed. "I can't believe we didn't see it first. The lunar cycle matched and it made sense. But there was a lot more murders than one werewolf or even two could do. Fuck!"

"Binghamton has a pack of walkers," I gaped. "What do we do? The door's not going to hold much longer and they have our scents."

I hoped that our cavalry was moving quickly because it didn't look good for us. Even if both of us had guns, we were outnumbered and had a limited number of bullets. When the door splintered and broke, we started firing, only pausing to reload. I didn't know how many members were in a traditional pack but it felt like every time a walker dropped, another one was on its heels.

"These fuckers are relentless," Aiden groaned.

"Impala," I said.

"Thank god," Aiden breathed.

The telltale engine of the impala and Dad's truck was suddenly two of the best sounds in the world. The next sound I heard were screeching tires and construction boots rushing up the steps and into the house. When there was suddenly silence, I knew things were over.

"Aiden?" Dad shouted. "Hailey?"

"In here!" Aiden responded. "We're okay."

"Yeah, we're okay," I echoed

Dad kicked in the rest of the door, pulling both Aiden and I into his arms. I could feel his heart racing and realized exactly how insane the past twenty minutes had been. If we had run out of bullets or if one of us had been bitten then that would be over. Once you were bitten then you were changed forever. The only thing that would stop it was a silver bullet to the heart. I realized with a jolt how close we might've could've died. It was one thing to hear that you had to be careful, that your carelessness could result in your demise but to actually be in that situation… It was overwhelming. I hugged both Dad and Aiden, breathing a sigh of relief. If I hadn't heard glass breaking, they would've taken us by surprise.

"You okay, Hails?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, Dean," I sighed.

I leaned into Dean's side when he threw an arm over my shoulders. I sighed looking around the room. I felt bad for Jefferson as I looked at all the bodies of the dead walkers. Hopefully people would disregard the noise because now that the skinwalkers had turned back to their human form, it would be very hard to explain to the cops what happen.

"'M proud of you," Dean said, ruffling my hair.

"Y'all should get gone before 5-0 gets here," Jefferson said.

"What about the bodies?" Sam asked.

"I'll take care of it," Jefferson said. "Seriously, John if you get caught, you'll go to jail and they'll ship your kids off to foster care."

"I'm not leaving you with this mess," Dad said. "Kids pack it up. Dean, head to Sioux Falls, tell Bobby what's going on. I'll meet you all there as soon as I can."

We all quickly sprang into action. Dad and Jefferson began to drag the bodies down to Jefferson's basement while Dean, Sam, Aiden, and I quickly packed our bags and raced out to the impala. We tossed our bags into the trunk. After we said goodbye to Jefferson and Dad, we all got in the car and drove off.

"Does Bobby know we're coming?" I asked.

"Yeah," Sam said. "We might be a few days early, though."

"How did the pack find us?" Aiden questioned. "We burned sage like you told us too."

"I think we killed the leader," Dean explained. "By the time we realized that they were skinwalkers, they had hunted you guys down."

"But, we burned sage, they never should've been able to trace us," I said.

"I don't know," Dean frowned. "But, thank God you both weren't hurt."

Aiden and I exchanged relieved glances, things could've been a lot worse. If I hadn't woken up, they would've blindsided us. And when it comes down to it, that small fact is the only thing that matters. It didn't matter how the pack had found us, they had and they could've killed us.

The impala was quiet as Dean drove through New York and into Pennsylvania. Once we were outside of New York we looked for the first motel we could find since it was the middle of the night and it would take at least another day to get to South Dakota. When we found a motel with the vacancy sign up we pulled into the lot. Dean walked into the small office and came out a few minutes later. He jumped back behind the wheel and drove us around the side of the motel to our room. We pulled out the overnight bags that we kept for short stops like this. They were small in nature containing only toiletries, an outfit, and a weapon or two.

"We're in room 138, come on," Dean ordered.

We trailed after him, entering the small room. Sam locked the door as we set our duffel bags down on the small couch. As far as motels went this wasn't the worst we had scene but it wasn't the best either. At least the beds and the sheets looked clean.

"Okay, guys you know the drill," Dean clapped his hands. "Hails, lay the salt line. Aiden, Sam, set the charms up."

I grabbed one of the cartons of salt and began to lay it around the perimeter of the room. We met near the edge of the wall opposite the front door. Aiden and Sam finished closely after me, placing pentagrams and other protective symbols on all the walls. The whole process took about five minutes; in that time Dean had opened the pullout couch, pushed up against one of the walls.

We were so used to this routine that we already knew who got which bed. Aiden and I would share the bed furthest away from the front door. That way if something bad came in it would have to go through Dad, Dean, Sam, and Aiden. As if that wasn't enough protection, I always had to get the side of the bed closest to the wall. Dad always got the pull out, unless one of us was sick. Which he'd be able to just fall into when and if he met up with us at this motel. Then Sam and Dean shared the last bed in the room. I changed into an old AC/DC shirt that I had swiped from Dean before I crawled into bed. Within ten minutes everyone was fast asleep.

I was the first one to wake up, mostly because I wanted to shower and knew if I woke last, there'd be no hot water left. My brother's bitched at me that I always used up all the hot water but the truth was that I showered faster than all of them. When I emerged from the bathroom a short time later, Dad was fast asleep on the couch along with Sam and Aiden. Dean, however, wasn't in the room. I brushed my hair and put it into a low ponytail before crawling back into bed.

I slept maybe another twenty minutes before the front door swung open. I sat up in bed watching as Dean dropped two bags on the kitchen table.

"Hey, Hails," Dean whispered when he noticed that I was awake. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Yup, beds were surprisingly comfortable."

"When did Dad get in?"

"An hour or two," Dean stated.

I nodded as I dug into the take out bag until Dean batted my hands away. He quickly pulled out five take out containers handing me the one in the middle. Dean and I sat quietly at the table eating our food while waiting for Dad to wake up, because he almost always woke up before Sam and Aiden.

I was practicing my Latin and Dean was cleaning weapons when Dad woke up. He scrubbed a hand down his face. He looked at Dean and I before glancing over at Aiden and Sam, still fast asleep. Dad climbed out of the bed walking over and shaking both Sam and Aiden.

"Wake up," Dad ordered. "We're out within the hour."

Sam and Aiden snapped up and sprang out of bed, both heading towards the bathroom. Most people would be impressed how they went from sleeping to running in thirty seconds, Dad and I barely batted an eye. Aiden managed to slip into the bathroom first, shutting the door seconds before Sam and Dean got to it.

That seemed to be one of the few constants in our life, the fine art of racing to the bathroom. It didn't matter if we were at the Roadhouse, one of the safe houses, or any motel room. It happened almost every day, with maybe the exception of weekends, though it wasn't often we got days off.

"Boys," Dad warned as Aiden's victorious laughter echoed around the room.

"You use up all the hot water, I'll end you, Aiden," Sam threatened.

We had been at the motel for maybe twelve hours. That was a fairly long time for a rest period. Most of the time we just crashed for a few hours long enough to get some decent sleep before moving on to the next location. But we had been driving for the better part of a day. When Dean came out of the bathroom, Dad gave the order to break down the room, sweeping up the salt and putting the charms away. I wasn't actually sure why we were going to Bobby's house, Dean hadn't known either. Maybe Dad had gotten a lead on what killed Mom and had to research. Or maybe there was some research that needed to be done anyway. If that was the case then Bobby's house was our best bet, if it was in a book, that aforementioned book was somewhere in Bobby's house.


	4. Sleight of Hand

**Chapter Four: Sleight of Hand**

"_Be a product of your environment, not a victim."_

**September 20, 1991: Bobby's Point of View **

Pastor Jim Murphy was a wise man; we had our run-ins in the past. We met when my Karen died, after being possessed. I had killed her because I hadn't known that demons existed back then. There were a lot of things I didn't know back then. Maybe that's why Jimmy passed John Winchester on to me. I had heard of him before, not by name. Hunters talked and word on the street was some new kid was hunting with a mess of kids in tow, trained by Daniel Elkins, former Marine.

The man lived up to everything I heard and more. He was supposed to have been here by four. By the time I heard a car on my lot, the sun had long since set and it was pouring rain. I met him outside. I he had been alone; my reaction may have been different. Instead my eyes went right past the six-foot marine and straight to his kids. Two year old Hailey was perched on Dean's hip, her arms around his neck, chattering a mile a minute. Five-year-old Aiden was leaning against Dean, while Sam was closer to John, eyeing me right back.

What stood out most to me in those few minutes we were sizing one another up, was that Dean, all of twelve, looked far older. He seemed surer of himself, yet so lost. A mother brutally murdered and to top that of his entire life had been upended. His home was no longer four walls, but four wheels and every motel that the continental United States had to offer.

"John Winchester I presume?" I finally greeted the man.

"Singer?" He retorted.

"Yep," I responded.

"Yeah," John nodded.

"What are you waiting for?" I barked out. "Get those kids outta the damp."

All four heads swiveled from me to their father when he gave a nod they approached cautiously. Or at least the boy's did. Hailey struggled in Dean's grip, a whine in her throat.

"Dee, down!" The young girl ordered. "I wanna walk!"

"Volume, Hails," Dean scolded.

"Sorry," Hailey mumbled, then brightened when she looked at me. "Hi. I'm Hailey."

"Don't talk to strangers," Sam stated.

"He's not a stranger," Hailey rolled her eyes. "Daddy knows his name."

John chuckled softly as Sam glared and Hailey grinned. Dean set Hailey on her feet the second they were in the house. Before most people could blink, she was off like a light, attempting to run into the living room, where stacks of books taller the young girl were. Luckily Dean seemed to know exactly what she was going to do, snagging her around the waist, and setting her back on her feet in front of him.

"No," Dean whispered.

Hailey folded her arms across her chest, her lower lip pouting out. I felt for the kid, god only knew how long she had been trapped in that car. I approached her slowly, crouching down to her level. Before I could say a word, Dean pulled her behind him, shielding her from me. I looked up to meet Dean's heated glare. Clearly, he was protective of his brothers and sister, and didn't like me getting too close.

"Dean," John rebuked.

I straightened from my crouch, clearing my throat as I chose to look at John, "You all hungry?"

"We don't want to be any trouble," John shrugged.

"Nonsense," I rolled my eyes. "I was going to make dinner anyway. Mac and Cheese work?"

"Yes," Hailey chirped, still behind Dean.

John smiled fondly at his youngest before echoing her statement, "Mac and Cheese would be just fine. Thank you."

A few days later, John would leave the kids at my house. I hadn't really ever had experience with kids. Didn't even want my own, broke Karen's heart when I broke the news. But, if there was even a chance I could become my abusive fuck of a father, I wouldn't take it. No kid deserved that. And, though, it was obvious John Winchester loved his children, he was too focused on his cause. More or less leaving the children to themselves. The only quality time they really had with their old man was when he was teaching them the skills necessary to survive in this life.

It had taken about a week for me to grasp the complexities that were the Winchester siblings. They were a quiet bunch, well, quiet wasn't really the right word because when he wasn't in the room they were laughing and talking, stopping only when they caught sight of me. John had obviously taught them all to respect their elders. They always cleaned up after themselves. I guess if I had to learn how to deal with children, then the Winchester's were the easiest to learn from. Dean seemed the most wary of me, and if he didn't trust me, then his siblings trusted his judgment.

Dean Winchester was a difficult nut to crack, not that I blamed the boy. Only two years before his mother had been brutally murdered, his life changed forever. A kid doesn't forget something like that. But, Dean was a brave kid, he looked out for his siblings, and picked up his father's slack with nary a protest. He became an adult the second his mother had died, yet you could still see glimpses of the kid he use to be. Before the Winchester family was touched by darkness.

Sam was a lot like his brother, he was old enough to just remember his mother. Though her death and the fire were probably two of the more prominent memories. He might've been only six but it was easy to tell that he use to be a lot more carefree. John spoke of times where neither Sam nor Dean spoke a word. It seemed only now that they were speaking without prompting. Sammy was a smart kid, they all were, but unlike Dean or Aiden, Sam was willing to work at it, reading every book he could get his hands on.

The kids were inseparable at my house for the first few visits. Hailey was often glued to Dean's side, while Aiden and Sam often played board games or watched cartoons together. Hailey was not a shy baby, from the second I met her she made it very clear that she liked me, often chattering her way through dinner to anyone who would listen. The funniest thing was that even at two years old, Hailey had her brothers and father wrapped around her little finger. The worst part about that fact was that the girl was very aware of the power she held.

**June 17, 2000**

My father's quest to murder the Demon, who had killed my mom made sense in theory. In application, though, I found myself wondering what we were doing. Dad trained us, prepared us to fend for ourselves, made us realize that it was a kill or be killed world and there were things out in the world that were a lot scarier than people. Still, I felt removed from my family and their vengeance. It was something I had never voiced to them, and never would.

Did I miss my mother? Yes, I did, in a way one misses something they never had. My earliest memory was of my father and three brothers, no mom, no fire. It was just them. They were the only family I knew and I didn't like how they were risking their lives. Murdering the thing that took mom away, wouldn't bring her back.

It didn't matter what happened, I would never know my mother. I'd never have a normal life. It might have been weird to some, but to me, learning Latin, hand-to-hand combat, and other things like that was normal. Living from motel room to motel room was typical. It wasn't something that upset me, it just was my life.

By the time we got to Sioux Falls everyone was in an awful mood. We hadn't had a proper stop in over forty eight hours. Every small motel sleep break was only for a few hours and then it was back into the cars for more driving. So, when the impala and the truck pulled in front of Bobby Singer's house around three in the morning we were all tired, cranky, hungry, and filthy.

Whatever reason why we had driven all the way here with barely any stops must've been big. Dad wouldn't have rushed us across the country if it weren't. He was normally pretty good with allowing decent motel stops, knowing that the without them my brothers and I were more prone to fighting, which got on Dad's nerves and just made things all the more difficult. We didn't bother to really announce our presence between both cars massive engines roaring up the path to the house and Rumsfeld's barking, Bobby was already on the porch, shotgun in hand, just in case.

"Winchester, are you out of your goddamn mind?" Bobby barked. "It's the middle of the night."

"Got here as fast as we could," Dad replied.

"Jesus, Winchester, you stop at all?" Bobby demanded eyeing us over critically.

I was a barely awake, I must have fallen asleep only an hour or two before and I wasn't ready to wake up. Of course, the choice wasn't mine as the impala's back door opened and someone reached in easily maneuvering me into their arms, my feet wrapping around their waist and my arms around their neck, burrowing my face into their neck. Dean. Of course it was Dean who had fished me out of the backseat, already carrying my duffel bag and his in the hand that wasn't holding on to me.

"What are you waiting for, boy?" Bobby demanded. "Get your sister in the house."

I felt Dean jostle me as he stepped by Bobby into the house. His footsteps were quiet as he walked up the stairs and going into the second guest bedroom that my brothers and I shared. He placed me gently on the bed, pulling the covers around me before presumably going back downstairs to help unload the cars.

The sun streamed into the open window, bright and early the next morning, landing directly in my eyes. With a groan I turned over, planting my feet on the floor before stumbling from the room. I could smell and hear the coffee maker percolating as I made my way into the kitchen. Bobby was already there, reading the paper with a huge breakfast spread already on the table.

"Morning Hails," Bobby greeted. "Sleep well."

"Yes, thank you," I replied.

I walked past him in order to fill up a cup of coffee. I put in two sugars and a splash of milk before bringing it back to the table. I was just about to take a sip when Dean plopped down next to me, snagging the mug out of my hand and taking a sip.

At my scowl he said, "You know Dad's rule."

"I'm eleven," I growled.

"Yeah, you're too young to need caffeine," Dean scoffed. "Have some orange juice."

"Aw, come on, Dean," I whined.

"No," Dean retorted. "Eat your breakfast."

I rolled my eyes as I snagged a few pieces of toast and a couple slices of bacon. I growled when Dean looked at what was one my plate and added a scoop of scrambled eggs.

"You'll need the energy," Dean said. "Dad has new drills he wants you to learn."

"Like what?" I said, suspiciously.

"Cross-bow," Dean said.

"Sweet," I smirked.

Three hours later the rest of the house had risen, eaten, and cleaned up. Dad had sent Dean, Sam, Aiden, and I ahead because he and Bobby had things to discuss. Dean trudged on ahead of us, quickly making a target out of a piece of plywood and spray paint.

"This isn't a toy," Sam said as he handed me the cross-bow.

It was lighter than I thought it would be but it still had a fair bit of weight to it. I bounced it in my hand taking note of the weight and the sights.

"Really, Sammy?" I scoffed. "I had no idea."

Sam scowled at me, while Aiden laughed, and Dean shot me a look. To which I gave him an innocent look.

"Show her how it's done, Sam," Dean ordered standing away from the homemade target.

I passed the crossbow back to Sam noting that he didn't say anything argumentative. I guess that whatever had pissed Sammy off a few days ago had passé for now. It looked at him, trying to see where his head was at. He had been just as scared as Dean and Dad when they came back to Jefferson's to see the walkers had found us and had us trapped upstairs. Maybe that had been enough to snap Sam out of his mood but I sensed that there was something else that was going on.

Dean had come between Aiden and I and lightly tapped the back of my head, "Pay attention, Hails."

I nodded watching as Sam pulled the string into the trigger and put an arrow into it, lining them up. He then lifted up, using his left to keep it balanced and the other one was resting near the trigger. He looked through the sight and fired, sending the arrow flying into the bull's-eye.

"Got it?" Sam asked, turning to me.

"Got it," I replied taking the crossbow from Sam's hand and following what I had seen him do. The string took a little more time to get it to go where I wanted it to but I eventually learned to discharge the arrows just as quickly and effortlessly as Sam had.

There was a sort of Zen like state that I fell into when I was training. My mind calmed down, I focused on my breathing and just reacted. The bolts from the crossbow began firing a lot more frequently as I found my groove. When all the bolts were gone, I came back into focus, noticing that almost all the bolts were in the bull's-eye.

"Good job, Hails," Dean praised, taking the crossbow from my hands.

"Thanks, Dean," I grinned.

"Okay, Dad wanted us to run laps, then sparing, then we get a break for lunch," Dean said.

"How nice of him to remember we need to eat," Sam sneered.

"Come on, Sam," Dean groaned.

No one was surprised by Sam's comment. For as long as I could remember Sam and Dad had always butted heads. Their conflicts had only gotten worse as we grew older. Instead of sticking around, I took off running towards the edge of the Salvage yard. In all my years of growing up here, I knew that Bobby owned at least acre of land. There was the salvage yard, Bobby's house, the work shop, and a shed that was more like a barn for how big it was. Bobby had also gone to great lengths to make sure that anything Supernatural couldn't get in. This place was as protected as any of our safe houses.

After our run we trudged back towards the house, noticing that the mats had been laid out. That was something that I hadn't expected to see. Of course, I wasn't surprised that Bobby had them, he seemed prepared for anything and everything. But, the fact that Dad would actually let us use mats seemed odd. Dad was a fan of keeping things 'real' as in no mats, no gloves, no nothing. The only protection you had was yourself. Dad thought that we should be trained in the same way that we had to use our skill set. Thus having mats and gloves, and the like were more a hindrance than anything else. I wondered how Bobby had won that fight, but I was glad he did because nothing said _ouch_ more than being thrown to the ground.

"Okay, how about Hailey and Sammy spar today?" Dean suggested. "And then Aiden and I?"

We all glanced at one another and shrugged. I stepped onto the mat, looking towards Sam. Normally Aiden and I spared together but it wasn't uncommon for Sam and I to spar either. It kept all of us on our toes so that we wouldn't fall into familiarity. My eyes locked with Sam's and I noticed how angry he looked. He wasn't angry at me, I don't think. But, he was frustrated. I fell into a defensive crouch, knowing that Sam would make the first move.

The punch that Sam threw was hard and telegraphed. I grabbed his wrist using his momentum and mine to swing around, wrapping my legs around his neck and tossing him to the ground in a pin. I felt Sam tap my thigh and I let him go, rising to my feet.

"Where did you learn that from?" Dean demanded.

"Charlie showed me the last time we saw them," I grinned.

"Not bad," Dean nodded. "You alright, Sam?"

"Shut up, Dean," Sam grumbled. "Let's see if you can do that again."

I shrugged, stepping back onto the mat, barely getting away from Sam's fist as his offensive attack seemed more concentrated than before. None of us liked to lose, and the fact that I got one over on Sam, when he was already in a foul mood made him all the more likely to come at me with a lot more venom than he normally did. I skidded backward to avoid the assault, looking for an opening. Unfortunately, Sam was too well trained to leave an opening. I maneuvered around him before kicking him in the knee causing his legs to buckle.

"Okay, that's enough," Dean ordered as Sam jumped back to his feet. "How about you pick on someone your own size?"

"Dean, I can take care of it," I muttered.

Dean shot me a look, causing me to roll my eyes and step off the mat. I stepped closer to Aiden watching as Sam and Dean spared. In a lot of ways it looked the same way it must've looked when Aiden and I sparred, only Sam and Dean were more experienced and brutal. They weren't afraid of hurting each other. Punches were exchanged and both hit the mat multiple times but there was no clear winner. Both were breathing heavier as one attempted to get the advantage over the other with little success.

"Kids, lunch time!" Bobby shouted out of the kitchen window.

I turned to run back towards the house skidding through the back door and nearly into Bobby's back.

"Get cleaned up, ya idjit," Bobby ordered.

His voice was gruff but he looked like he was trying not to laugh. I saluted him, walking towards the sink to wash my hands. Once my hands were dry, I dropped into my seat as the others filed in around me. I ignored the conversation that flowed around me, mostly because it was just Bobby and Dad talking about practical applications in spell work, which Bobby had apparently read in one of the many books that littered the place.

I ate the chicken salad sandwich, happy that it wasn't take out. Being in a nomadic lifestyle, didn't really afford the luxury of home cooking. And, most meals came from diners, or those little markets that were attached to gas stations. Most of the time, I didn't care but there were times that one just got tired of junk food.

"Your turn to do the dishes, Hailey," Dad said. "Boy's I want you sparring and then there are weapons that need to be cleaned."

"Yes, sir," My brothers and I said.

Once my sandwich was gone, I cleared the table and started in on the dishes as my brother's walked out back to spar. I cleaned the dishes and put things away. I began to move towards the back door to join my brothers for more sparring. Instead, Dad clearing his throat stopped me in my tracks.

"You have schoolwork to do," Dad informed me, holding a folder filled with papers.

"It's summer," I pointed out.

"And, the last school district we were in was behind the curve, according to the Freemont Board of Education. The secretary sent over a packet for you and your brothers."

"Awesome," I mumbled.

I grabbed the folder and sat back at the kitchen table. I opened it up, wincing at the amount of work that was there. All subjects were well represented but it seemed that English was the predominant subject. I buckled down, filling out worksheets for English and History, noting that some of the books on the reading list weren't ones in my possession. Two hours later, my brothers joined me at the table. Dean was cleaning weapons while Sam, Aiden, and I worked on our homework.

"This is so stupid," Aiden mumbled.

"Quit whining, Ads, it's not like you're the one cleaning all this shit by yourself," Dean admonished.

Aiden rolled his eyes as he finished with another worksheet.

"I have books to read that we don't have," I pointed out.

"Same here," Aiden and Sam said.

"Go ask Bobby," Dean suggested.

"Does Bobby even have normal books?" I muttered to myself as I got up and walked into the study.

I was about to announce my presence when I noticed that both Dad and Bobby were standing on either side of the desk, staring down at the map. Every so often Bobby wrote something down before he sighed.

"The tip has is legit," Bobby muttered. "Cox wouldn't bullshit me."

"What exactly did he say?"

"John Dee took two bullets in '93, we watched him die," Bobby explained. "But, he didn't stay dead. I'm not really surprised, his name's John Dee, and he's big time black magic. He's on a first name basis with all the major players downstairs…"

"And, he might know what killed Mary?" Dad asked.

"It's as good of a lead as any," Bobby shrugged before he glanced up his eyes locking with mine. "What's up, Hails?"

"School sent out a book list," I said.

"Give it here," Bobby extended his hand. He frowned and nodded as he read over the book names. "I have almost all of these. They're in the attic."

"Awesome," I mumbled. "So, are you ditching us here?"

"Excuse me?" Dad asked.

"The tip from a contact in New York City," I shrugged.

I watched as Dad's eyes narrow on mine, his lips thinning as he shot a look at Bobby. Like it was his fault that I knew something that I apparently wasn't supposed to know.

"Hailey," Dad growled.

"What?" I asked. "You told me to do my work. I need to know where I'm getting these books from. Not my fault that you were talking in a normal tone of voice."

He scowled at me, to which I shrugged in response. One of the problems that Dad maybe hadn't thought about, in his quest to kill Mom's killer, might have been the skills he taught us were skills that we could use interchangeably. It wasn't so much the hunting part of our lifestyle that we used, all the time. But, the ability to read and manipulate people. They were necessary skills of the job, of course. Though, the longer we remained in this life the more it was just that: life. The was no off time, we were always working, always moving.

"What did you hear?" Dad demanded.

"John Dee has connections to downstairs, big time black magic practioner." I replied. "Only problem is he took two bullets in 1993. Bobby and someone named Cox, who knows better than to lie to Bobby, watched him die. Oh, and he might know about what killed Mom."

"Hailey," Dad frowned.

"Can we go too?" I asked. "I've never been to New York City."

"Absolutely not," Dad snapped. "Whoever this guy is, he's dangerous. I don't want you kids anywhere near him."

"You can't go alone," I protested.

"You and your brothers are staying here," Dad growled. "Bobby and I are going."

I rolled my eyes, turning around to walk up the stairs, I walked past the room I shared with my brothers to grab the string that pulled the ladder that led to the attic. I climbed up the ladder. I wrinkled my nose taking in the dusty surroundings. The lights flickered as I moved around. I saw a giant footlocker and figured that may be a place people put books. I noticed that the initials on the footlocker was K.S. I opened it up and saw that it was mostly books as well as some clothing. I really shouldn't have been surprised that Bobby needed up having all the books on the book list. I pulled them out, and shut the locker.

"Hailey, come say goodbye!" Dean called.

I pushed all the books towards the stairs so that I could grab them later. I ran down the multiple flights of stairs to where Bobby and dad were waiting in the foyer.

"Okay, you guys know the drill," Dad said. "Keep the cell phone charged, don't leave the house."

"No one should be coming by for auto repair," Bobby shrugged.

"Lock the doors and the windows, close the shades," Dad continued. "If something tries to bust in?"

"Shoot first, ask questions later," We chorused.

"Come on, guys, look alive," Dad frowned. "This stuff's important."

"Yes, sir," We agreed.

"I want to see a decent dent in all that homework when we get back," Dad ordered. "Aiden, Sam, Hailey, listen to your brother."

"And, don't wreck my house," Bobby stated. The "again" was left unsaid but we winced regardless. We had all learned the hard way not to have prank wars when the adults were away because things quickly got out of hand, and when that happened the job gets wrapped up faster leading the aforementioned adults to wander into a house that looks like a nuke had gone off.

"Don't forget about training either," Dad warned.

"Be safe," Dean stated.

"We'll check in when we get there," Dad nodded.

With final goodbyes exchanged, Dad and Bobby left, pausing on the front steps to make sure we locked the front door after them. While I was annoyed that Dad had left us behind, because I bet New York City was a lot more fun, I counted ourselves lucky because at least Bobby's house was bigger than some of the motel rooms we had been stranded in.

"Aiden, can you help me bring down the books?" I asked.

"Yeah," Aiden shrugged.

It took Aiden and I multiple trips to get all of the books down from the attic and on the kitchen table. After the trips we looked at the table that was covered in dusty literature with frowns on our faces. It was a lot of work, not that we didn't expect something like this. When you were constantly switching school districts things tended to slip through the cracks.

"You guys start reading," Dean sighed. "I'll start dinner. Anything you want?"

"Something not out of a can," I pleaded.

Sam, Dean, and Aiden exchanged glances before they all shrugged.

"I'll see what Bobby has laying around," Dean stated.

I sat down grabbing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and beginning to read. I quickly got engrossed into the book, though I was aware of my surroundings, listening as Dean moved around the kitchen. Peaceful moments like this made me ache for something that I never had. In some other life maybe my brothers and I would be clustered around doing our homework while our mother cooked so dinner would be ready when Dad got home from work. Instead the only home I had was a 1967 Chevy Impala.

I wondered what Mom was like. My brothers and Dad didn't ever talk about her, which was odd because we were living this life to avenge her. But, she was never mentioned. I had barely seen pictures of her. I knew that I resembled her and I felt bad but I was jealous of my brothers, even Aiden had a few years with her. I only had six months and then she was gone. Our dead mothers were something that Tom Sawyer and I had in common. I instantly felt awful for making that comparison, regardless of how true it was.

"Guys, dinner," Dean called.

I put the book down moving into the kitchen where a mashed potatoes and fried chicken waited in the center of the table. Dean smirked as he caught our surprised expression. As the oldest, we all knew that he could cook but he was normally limited to whatever we had in the motel room, which more often than not was just a mini fridge and a microwave. We all dug in quietly, none of us really having much to say.

After dinner we split up, Sam and Dean going to watch television, while Aiden and I were saddled with dish washing duty. He washed while I dried. It was calm and quiet. We could almost pretend that this was an every day night for us. Instead we could feel the undercurrent of tension, the entire house was alive with it. It was filled with gas and it was waiting for a spark to level anything in its path.

When the dishes were done, I went back to my homework, finishing the rest of my history work. It wasn't that the school district hadn't sent that much history over. It was just that history was easy to do. It was worksheets and chapter outlines and Dad wanted us to know history, so he had always weaved history with Latin or into training exercises. Talking about the armies of old and how things used to be.

As I studied, Dean walked around the house making sure that the windows and doors were locked and the salt line hadn't been disturbed. Things were quiet, the cell phone was charged up and on the kitchen table so that we could all grab it easily. Because when John Winchester called, we answered, no questions ask, no calls went to voicemail. We either answered or we proved that there were life threatening circumstances. The rest of the night based by slowly as I worked on the backlog of homework.

When it finally looked like a dent had been placed in my pile, I called it a night. The sun wasn't even streaming through the open window when I was shaken awake. I groaned and swatted at the hands, baring my teeth.

"Come on, Hails, rise and shine," Dean exclaimed. "We gotta run. Five miles."

"Time's it?" I grimaced.

"Six thirty," Dean replied. "You have five minutes or I'll come back with cold water."

I growled, glaring at Dean, who smiled brightly which caused me to scowl. Not wanting cold water thrown into my face, which I knew wasn't an idle threat, I jumped out of bed and stretched. My back cracked as I crossed the floor changing out of my PJs and into workout clothing. Five miles were a bitch, but it could've been worse. When I ran down the stairs a few minutes later, Sam and Aiden were leaning against one another, clearly minutes away from falling back asleep.

"Alright, let's go," Dean ordered, clapping his hands together.

Sam, Aiden, and I stared at Dean in surprise. We all would much rather sleep in that start running at 5:30 in the morning. However, Dean was not only alert, he was hustling us out of the door. Then again, Dean had always been awake before us when we had school, to make sure that everything was ready for us.

Together we started off at a slow run, quickly building up speed as we circled the compound. We all kept pace with one another, even when we sprinted during the last half mile, enabling us to finish our run in less than forty-five minutes. I fell bonelessly onto the couch huffing out a breath as Sam and Aiden collapsed on either side of me.

"Everyone make sure to get something to eat, and then we spar, after that maybe some weapon training, before getting more of that schoolwork done." Dean announced. "Sound good?"

Various sounds of what could be agreement sounded from Sam, Aiden, and I as we trudged back into the house. I went into the kitchen and grabbed a water and an apple before plopping down on the couch. Aiden came in a few minutes later with a sandwich, he pushed my feet off the couch and sat down, stealing the remote from my grasp.

"Asshole," I muttered, kicking his ankle.

"Should've moved faster," Aiden shrugged.

I rolled my eyes, taking a huge bite out of the apple.

When Sam came in he stole the remote from Aiden, ignoring his squawk of protest as he flipped the channel. We were all stuck watching the some documentary when Dean came in fresh from a shower, snagging the remote from Sam and putting it back on the horror movie that Aiden and I had been watching originally.

"Dean," Sam huffed. "We don't need to watch this. It's not even accurate information."

"Buck up, geek wonder," Dean smirked. "Maybe you can do Aiden or Hailey's homework if you're feeling the need for education."

"Jerk," Sam mumbled.

"Bitch." Dean retorted.

Once we had all finished eating we all walked back outside to do some sparring. Every day I was getting better, getting stronger. I might not be as good as my brothers but I was quickly catching up. And it felt good. I wasn't eating mat half as much as I use to, some of Aiden's jabs, punches, and kicks no longer connected and I was hitting him almost as much as he was hitting me.

It helped that I was learning from all the hunters around me and my cousin, Charlie helped. She knew what it was like to fight someone who outweighed you by at least thirty pounds and was talker than you as well. She knew how to use those would be advantages as disadvantages and it was paying off.

Although both Sam and Dean were wrapped up in their own sparring match, I could feel eyes on Aiden and I. When I looked over I caught a glimpse of pride before I had to refocus and shuffle out of the way in order to avoid an incoming punch thrown at my face.

"Come on, Hay, you gotta pay attention," Aiden scolded. "I'm not boring you, am I?"

I held my hands up, keeping my stance loose. As I expected Aiden came closer and that's when I lunged, spinning on a heel in order to roundhouse kick Aiden off his feet. He landed flat on his back with a groan.

"Brat," Aiden hissed out a laugh.

"Problem, Ads?" I smirked. "Am I boring you?"

"Screw you," Aiden grimaced. "Me and Charlie are going to have words. That shit she's teaching you sucks."

"You mean it sucks that you're eating mat?" I responded.

The only warning I had that I had poked Aiden too hard was the glare he leveled at me before sweeping my ankles together prompting me to crash to the floor.

"What was that you were saying about eating mat?" Aiden snickered.

"Aiden!" I whined.

Aiden's laughter only caused me to get more furious as tears welled in my eyes. I jumped to my feet with a huff, kicking him in the side.

"You're an asshole!" I snapped, raising my foot to kick him again

"Hailey _Jade_!"

I turned around, a glower planted firmly on my face. I was still angry, my feeling were hurt and I knew that I was in trouble the look on Dean's face said as much.

"Go to your room right now," Dean ordered. "Corner."

"Dean!" I whined. "That's not fair."

"That was an order, little girl," Dean responded.

With a sob I ran into Bobby's house, slamming the door behind me as I rushed up the stairs and into my room. I was furious and I felt even more humiliated than I had before. I couldn't believe that Dean had banished me into the corner. I folded my arms over my chest, and kicked the baseboard.

A few minutes later I felt more than heard Dean's arrival. I didn't turn around, knowing that I wasn't supposed to move until I was told. I heard the springs on the bed creak as Dean sat down, and resisted the urge to squirm as I felt his eyes at my back.

"Turn around, Hails," Dean ordered.

I spun on my heels, rubbing at my eyes.

"Want to tell me what that display was?" Dean asked.

"Aiden always picks on me," I growled. "Just when I was winning, he knocked me down and laughed at me."

"And that gives you the right to kick him?" Dean questioned.

"I didn't kick him hard," I mumbled.

"That wasn't what I asked, Hailey."

"You're not going to listen to me," I demanded and then accused, "you're on his side."

"There are no sides to this," Dean corrected. "Aiden shouldn't have made fun of you, but that doesn't give you the right to kick him. Let alone try to kick him again."

"I wasn't going to kick him hard," I repeated. "Besides it probably didn't even hurt."

"Hailey Jade, you're missing the point," Dean stated. "It doesn't matter whether or not it actually hurt, the fact that you retaliated with violence is not okay."

"Our lives are violent, Dean," I protested.

"If you're telling me that you can't tell the difference between a hunt and our personal lives, than you're telling me that you aren't ready," Dean warned.

I couldn't help the scowl that went across my face at that. I had worked my ass off trying to convince Dad that I was ready to train, one word from Dean could knock me al the way back to the kiddie table, where I was only allowed to research and read about things.

"So, what now?" I asked.

"First you'll apologize to Aiden," Dean started. "Then you can park your butt at the kitchen table and knock out more homework."

I was surprised that I was walking away from this without my ass whipped and it must've showed on my face because Dean said, "I think this was a one time thing. If you prove me wrong, I will be very upset. Get me?"

"Yes, Dean," I replied.

"Good," Dean said, standing up to give me a hug. "I know that you're going through a difficult time. Things are changing and you feel older but we're still treating you like a kid. But, sooner or later, Hails, you'll have all the responsibilities we have and I'm not sure you're ready for all that. Try to be a kid a little longer. For me?"

"Okay," I agreed.

"Good," Dean smiled only to spin me out of his embrace and give me a firm smack to the backside. "Go do what I told you."

I quickly walked out of my room hugging down the stairs only to find both Sam and Aiden had moved into the living room, each had a bottle of water in their hand.

"Catch," Aiden called, lobbing a bottle of water towards my head, knowing that I'd catch it. I did breaking the cap off to take a big sip.

"Thanks," I said. "I'm sorry I kicked you."

"Don't worry about it, Hails," Aiden responded. "I shouldn't have picked on you."


End file.
